Item — HN Reader

If you have trouble committing to an option, it's usually because the options are equally good as far as you know.

There are two ways to go about this:

1. If the stakes are low, you can just pick one option at random and commit to it.

2. If the stakes are high, come up with a way to reduce your uncertainty around the options. Set a time limit, and perform an experiment that will inform your decision. If that experiment doesn't conclusively settle the options, just pick one and commit to it.

2 comments

In general I don't have a problem committing, but there's also some solid rules of thumb that you can follow, for example: "if all else is equal, take the option that leaves you the most opportunity later".

However I have also employed Weighted Decision Matrices[0] to a pretty high degree of success if they're undertaken seriously and the outcomes taken as a learning exercise.

Ironically when I employed the Weighted Decision Matrix I often didn't like the result, which was equally telling!

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision-matrix_method

Also, getting better at intuitively analysing these situations and picking an option is part of what it means to gain experience and become better at what you're doing. If you're doing things right, you will start out finding it difficult to pick an option when you're new (to programming, to a particular domain, to a particular technology, whatever), and as you get better, you 'll develop a "taste" for what seemingly-equivalent solution you prefer.